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How to Write a Tourism Business Plan

by Bryan Reynolds | Jul 10, 2023 | Destination Marketing

Starting a tourism business can be an exciting venture, but it’s vital to have a solid business plan in place. Your business plan will serve as a blueprint for your business, outlining your goals, strategies, and financial projections. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to write a tourism business plan.

Step 1: Executive Summary

• Start with an executive summary, which provides a snapshot of your business.
• It should include your business name, location, and a brief description of the services you offer.
• This section should also highlight your unique selling proposition – what sets your tourism business apart from the competition.

Step 2: Business Description

• Provide detailed information about your tourism business.
• Describe your target market, the types of tours or services you’ll offer, and your business structure (e.g., sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation).
• Also, discuss any partnerships with local businesses or organizations that will enhance your offerings.

Next up is the market analysis.

Step 3: Market Analysis

• This section requires research into the tourism industry in your area.
• Identify your competitors and analyze their strengths and weaknesses.
• Understand your target customers – their preferences, behaviors, and what they value in a tourism experience.

After understanding your market, it’s time to outline your organization and management structure.

Step 4: Organization and Management

Outline your team structure..

• Include the roles and responsibilities of each team member, and provide brief bios if possible.
• If you’re a sole proprietor, describe any outsourced roles (like accounting or marketing).

Step 5: Services or Products

• Detail the services or products your tourism business will offer.
• Whether you’re offering guided tours, travel planning, or other tourism-related services, make sure to describe each offering clearly.
• Explain the benefits of your services and how they meet the needs of your target market.

Finally, let’s talk numbers in your financial projections.

Step 6: Financial Projections

• This section should provide a clear picture of your business’s financial outlook.
• Include sales and revenue projections, a budget, a break-even analysis, and a projection of your cash flow.
• These figures will be crucial when seeking funding or investment for your tourism business.

Why do I need a business plan for my tourism business? A business plan helps you understand your business better, assists in securing funding, and serves as a roadmap for your business’s growth. A company overview is important in the travel and tourism industry. How long should my business plan be? The length of a business plan can vary significantly depending on the size and complexity of the business. However, typically, a business plan ranges from 20 to 50 pages. Who should write the business plan? As the successful business owner, you are the best person to write the business plan. However, you can also hire a professional business plan writer or use business plan software. How often should I update my business plan? It’s a good idea to update your business plan at least once a year or whenever significant changes occur in your business or industry. What if I’m starting a small tourism business and don’t have a team yet? That’s perfectly fine. In your organization and management section, simply focus on your role and any outsourced functions. Do I need to include all these sections in my business plan? Yes, each section plays a critical role in providing a comprehensive view of your business. However, the depth of detail in each section can vary based on your specific business. Can I use my business plan to secure funding? Absolutely. Investors and lenders will often request to see a business plan to understand the viability and potential of your business. A well-crafted business plan is crucial for the success of your tourism business. By following this guide, you’ll be well on your way to creating a comprehensive and effective business plan.

Best Practices when Writing a Tourism Business Plan Template

Writing a business plan for a tourism business involves several best practices that can increase the likelihood of your venture’s success. Here are some key points to consider:

1. Be Clear About Your Business Idea:

• Define your tourism business concept clearly.
• Specify the type of services you will provide, such as guided tours, travel planning, or accommodation booking.

2. Conduct Thorough Market Analysis:

• Identify your target audience and understand their needs and preferences.
• Analyze your competitors, their offerings, strengths, and weaknesses.

3. Create a Unique Selling Proposition (USP):

• Determine what sets your tourism business apart from competitors.
• Your USP could be unique tour packages, superior customer service, or partnerships with local businesses.

4. Detail Your Marketing Strategy:

• Develop a marketing and sales strategy to attract and retain customers.
• This could involve online advertising, social media promotion, collaborations with local businesses, or special offers for repeat customers.

5. Plan Your Operations:

• Outline how your business will operate on a day-to-day basis.
• Include details about logistics, staff requirements, equipment needed, and any regulatory compliance issues.

6. Develop a Financial Plan:

• Prepare a detailed financial plan, including revenue projections, budget, and break-even analysis.
• This section is crucial if you’re seeking investment or loans.

7. Review and Revise Regularly:

• A business plan should not be a static document. Review and update it regularly to keep it aligned with your current business situation and future goals.

Remember, your business plan is not just a document for potential investors or lenders; it’s also a roadmap for your business, guiding your decisions and strategies. By adhering to these best practices, you can create a robust business plan that sets your tourism business up for success.

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Adventure Excursions Unlimited

Executive summary executive summary is a brief introduction to your business plan. it describes your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights.">.

Adventure Excursions Unlimited (AEU) was formed to provide hard-adventure sport/travel packages with upscale accommodations, gourmet food, and celebrity service providers to wealthy clients. AEU hard adventures include helicopter-skiing, kayaking, white-water rafting, and mountain biking. The founders of AEU are Jordan Stephan (MBA/JD), Jillyn Certo (MBA), and Loren Harlo (MBA). In addition to their MBA status, they are passionate about the activities AEU will offer.

An opportunity exists for two reasons:

• Tourism is a growing industry (4% annually), and within the industry adventure travel is growing at 10%.
• There are few providers of hard-adventure travel to upscale clients.

Virtually all companies that provide “hard” adventure activities appeal to a lower income client. Companies that appeal to a wealthier clientele generally provide “soft” adventure packages. Hard-adventure activities involve difficult physical requirements. They carry a higher level of risk than do “soft” activities. Soft adventure activities may involve some physical exertion, however they involve a low level of risk and can be engaged in by non-athletic people.

The company’s target customers are high income (min. $75,000 for single person), health-conscious individuals interested in popular hard-adventure sports. These are lawyers, bankers, executives, doctors, etc. The major purchasers are located in urban areas within major United States cities. Our customers are more likely to be married. 51% are men and 49% are women.

In addition, more niche markets are evolving. Initially, it will be difficult to compete with experienced providers, especially market leaders. However, AEU’s target market is an exploitable niche and our service is differentiated. AEU’s target market members will have similar activity interests, more disposable income and less sensitivity to price.

AEU will price its services at the top of the market. We will provide a luxury service with prestige value. Our prices will be out of reach for the majority of adventure travelers. Service will be priced based upon luxury competitor prices and the value added of our offering. Providers that offer luxury services similar to ours do so at similar prices. We are competitively priced in the luxury market. Because we appeal to a smaller market, volume will be limited. However, we will be able to capture a higher gross profit margin.

1.1 Objectives

Adventure Excursions Unlimited’s objectives for the first three years of operation include:

• To create a service-based company whose #1 mission is exceeding customers’ expectations.
• Capturing 25% market share of the high-end hard-adventure travel space.
• To develop a sustainable, profitable business.
• To achieve a 35% return rate of customers within the first three years.

1.2 Mission

Adventure Excursions Unlimited’s mission is to provide customers with the highest quality outdoor adventure. We exist to attract and maintain customers. When we adhere to this maxim, everything else will fall into place.

Company Summary company overview ) is an overview of the most important points about your company—your history, management team, location, mission statement and legal structure.">

Adventure Excursions Unlimited, located in Eugene, OR will offer hard-adventure trips to the upper end of the travel market. AEU will be concentrating on three activities, mountain biking, heli-skiing, and white-water adventures. AEU has chosen these three activities to allow the company to not be restricted by seasons, we will have trips occurring through the year. While AEU’s office is located in Eugene, it will be leading trips throughout the United States, and the world.

AEU expects the first several months will be used to plan trips and train trip leaders. By the end of year one the trips should be in full swing and AEU will be building a solid customer base.

2.1 Company Ownership

Adventure Excursions Unlimited will be a privately held Oregon Corporation. Jordan Stephan, Jillyn Certo, and Loren Harlo will all hold equal number shares of AEU stock.

2.2 Start-up Summary

Adventure Excursions Unlimited’s start-up costs include all the equipment needed for an office, as well as the equipment needed for the mountain bike trips and white-water adventures. Other costs will be marketing fees, website development, insurance and a deposit for the office lease.

The office equipment will consist of four computer systems, DSL router, printer, CD-RW, CPU to be used as an internal server, phones, copier, fax machine and installation of DSL and two phone lines.

The equipment needed for the mountain bike trip will be a fleet of 15 bicycles, a self contained kitchen, shower and toilet system, and bicycle tools.

The equipment for the white-water adventures will include inflatable rafts (and other requisite related equipment), self contained kitchen set up, portable shower and toilet facilities, and lots of dry bags.

The marketing costs are for the brochures and advertisements. AEU will also incur costs in the development of our website. Lastly, insurance will be a large start-up expense.

AEU will position itself as a niche service provider within the hard-adventure market. It will offer high-quality travel packages for extreme sporting trips. To begin AEU will offer six trips: helicopter-skiing trips to Canada, India, and New Zealand, white-water rafting trips to New Zealand and Costa Rica, and a mountain biking trip along the Great Divide from Montana to New Mexico.

The target market will be made up of young professionals who work and play hard. These people can afford to play expensively, and are willing to buy time in the form of our services. AEU will serve the hard-adventure niche market as a top quality, full-service provider. AEU defines quality by the unique aspects of the services offered. Those aspects include booking group or custom trips, assistance with passports, providing top-of-the-line equipment and supplies, and a superior service offering with access to better terrain, luxury accommodations, entertainment, celebrity exposure, and gourmet food.

The tours to be offered are as follows:

• Mountain Biking : This event will take place on the Great Divide trail from Montana to New Mexico and is designed for the serious biker that appreciates a few of life’s comforts along the trail. Showers and gourmet meals will be provided, along with entertainment. All excursions will maintain a staff to client ratio of 1:2.

A comprehensive map system has been created by Adventure Cycling and is currently available for purchase. The map clearly indicates the route, places to camp, stores for food and laundromats. Leadership training for the guides will be developed in-house using some outside material. There are many similar organizations that will be good sources of information. The products needed for this trip are for the most part already manufactured. One item that needs to be designed and built is a privacy compartment for the solar shower. This will be designed by Jordan and manufactured in-house. A cookbook collection of simple recipes, including some personal favorites, will also be assembled. Professional cooks will be provided, and flown in if necessary. Brought to you by Create a professional business plan Using AI and step-by-step instructions Create Your Plan Secure funding Validate ideas Build a strategy

• Heli-skiing : Helicopter skiing has become a popular alternative to resort skiing. It offers uncrowded access to the best terrain. For those who like to get off the beaten path heli-skiing is for them. AEU has planned annual and custom trips to three destinations. Everything will be taken care of for the customer. Transportation, lodging, transfers and skiing is included in the package. Although our trips are planned at peak ski seasons, mother nature cannot be predicted. In the event that the weather is too treacherous to ski the trip will be postponed. An in–house travel consultant will accompany each group and take care of all check-in and transfer issues.

AEU will not send clients to places we ourselves would not go. All service providers will be top-notch professionals with accomplished backgrounds. They will be medically trained, and evaluated for knowledge and ability to ensure safety and high-quality service. If they fail, at any time, to meet our rigid standards of quality, they will not be used. If quality falls, another provider will replace them. These activities take place outside of the United States and therefore we will hire local guides to accompany our professional guides and service providers.

• White-water Sports : New Zealand and Costa Rica were chosen for these ten day long hard-adventure excursions. There can be a maximum of ten people per group. Annual trips will be planned to each location, but for large enough private groups, custom trips can be planed. As with the heli-skiing trips, local guides will be used in addition to our own. The abroad trips will be a cooperative effort in-house, as well as local guides in the host countries. The choice to seek outside consulting for the trips abroad is due to each countries different legal and regulatory climate. The potential subcontractors and guides are individuals currently in the industry in their respective countries.

Market Analysis Summary how to do a market analysis for your business plan.">

Travel industry is an upward growth industry. There are several reasons for this increase. First, a relative healthy domestic economy over the last several years and the devaluation of currency in other regions has made travel less expensive for U.S. residents. Pleasure travel has increased by 3.2% in 1999 and is predicted to grow 2.0% in 2000. Second, the healthy economy has increased business, which in turn boosted domestic business travel 4.8% in 1999 with an estimated increase of 3.6% in 2000.

Adventure travel is a growing segment of the travel industry. One theory of the recent increase in extreme sports has to do with the strong competitive nature of younger Americans. Statistics show that 8,000 U.S. companies (that offer adventure packages) generated $7 billion in 1999. There also has been a 66% increase in executive participation between 1996 and 2000 (or an increase of 2,000 participants)(La Franco, Robert. Forbes, Feb 9, 1998 v161 n3 p168(3)).

Some quick facts:

• Adventure travelers: More than 50% of the U.S. adult traveling population, or 147 million people, have taken an adventure trip in their lifetime (98 million in the past five years). Thirty-one million adults have engaged in hard-adventure activities like white-water rafting, scuba diving and mountain biking. An additional 25 million engaged in both a hard- and soft-adventure activity. Six-percent of those who participated in adventure trips spent more than $2,500.
• Activities most commonly participated in during adventure vacations: camping (85%), hiking (74%), skiing (51%), snorkeling or scuba diving (30%), sailing (26%), kayaking or white-water rafting (24%), and biking trips (24%).
• Biking vacations: Twenty-seven million travelers with customers that tend to be young and affluent. Ages 18-34 and one-fourth are from household’s w/annual income of $75,000 or above.

4.1 Market Segmentation

AEU’s target customers are high income (min. $75,000 for single person), health-conscious individuals interested in popular hard-adventure sports such as skiing, white-water sports and mountain biking. The major purchasers are located in urban areas within these United States cities.

Customer Location (within the United States):

• Pennsylvania

Hard-adventure travelers are more likely to be men. Therefore, AEU’s primary target market for hard-adventure sports is men between the ages of 18-34. However an increasing number of hard-adventure travelers are women (some statistics suggest that women comprise 49% of the hard-adventure market). Men, on average, spend more than women on their adventure travels.

Customers will be reached through traditional marketing communication methods. Information has been located relating to specific profiles of both hard- and soft-adventure travelers, where they live, work, what they do, etc. Research suggests that many of our target customers, and travelers in general, are Internet savvy. As such, the Internet will serve as an appropriate and effective medium of communication. Many adventure travelers purchase over the Internet or buy through travel agents. Purchase decisions are influenced by the amount of disposable income held, family issues, and the economy of a given year.

AEU will be targeting two specific groups:

• High-income health-conscious individuals.
• Young, active “trustafarians.”

The common elements between these two groups are money and a love for adventures. Group one has a lot of money from income that they earn. Group two has a lot of disposable income because the money was given to them, typically by members of their family. The second group, the trustafarians, is a very small group relative to the first group.

4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy

AEU will promote/position itself as a differentiated provider of luxury hard-adventure travel, and will price accordingly within the chosen service niche.

AEU is targeting this special population for several reasons:

• This segment, up until now, has been underserved.
• This market segment traditionally spends a fair amount of money on adventure trips.
• This target segment seems to be willing to pay a premium for a top-shelf adventure excursion.

Methods of communication will include direct mail, magazine advertising, personal selling and WWW presence. Continuous magazine advertising will be costly. Initially the use of direct mail, and personal selling will be employed. These methods of communication will be tailored to reach our target segment.

4.3 Service Business Analysis

As operations progress, AEU will continue to measure our progress relative to competitors and to the growth of the market(s) in which we operate. Though the primary target market has been defined, there may be new possibilities to serve additional segments. As the product is defined, and the strategy differentiation is defined based on competitive strengths, AEU will be better able to determine whether adjustments in positioning are necessary. Access to important information concerning the market, competitors, etc., is available. However it is not free. For the purposes of this project, we feel it is unnecessary to incur additional expense.

The marketing strategy will be to develop long-term relationships with customers. We will keep a database from which to obtain important demographic and psychographic information. As the business becomes profitable, plans will be implemented to expand. There is virtually no limit to the number and variety of trips AEU can provide. Trips can take place on every continent and in most countries. The goal is to establish AEU as an international provider of top-of-the-line hard-adventure travel.

4.3.1 Competition and Buying Patterns

Strengths and weaknesses of the competitors:

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Companies that offer higher-priced, more luxurious packages generally provide a “soft” adventure. The activities are more along the lines of sightseeing and low-risk alternatives. The advantages these companies have include established reputations, extensive knowledge of the industry, and key personnel and management. Some have been in operation for more than twenty years. They are familiar with local service providers and have established strategic relationships.

Disadvantages to us:

• It will be difficult to price ourselves competitively when we first enter the market.
• Many of AEU’s activities are seasonal. Recurring revenue will depend upon successful trips in various regions of the world. For example, ski trips will end in April in North America. AEU will then have to move ski operations to places like Las Lenas, Argentina.
• The weather for a given year is hard to predict. Poor conditions will threaten the success of trips. Unforeseen occurrences such as inadequate snowfall could effect the viability of activities such as skiing and white-water sports.

Closely related competitors:

Abercrombie & Kent: A well-established, international travel provider. Their focus is mainly on “soft” adventure packages such as safaris, river tours (e.g. Amazon), trekking, sightseeing, etc. However they do offer a “Connoisseur” line of packages. These are generally priced starting from $4,000-7,000. Some of their packages include white-water activities and hiking, however most are touring packages.

Competing or substitute products:

There are many activities and types of travel available to people contemplating a vacation. Theme parks, motorhome trips, and cruises are just a few. Substitutes could include less expensive, self-planned trips, trips geared towards soft-travel, adventure trips involving hunting or fishing as primary activities, or exclusive adventure trips such as personal submarine tours of the Titanic or a trip around the world in a Leer Jet. Many activities that take place outside and involve some level of risk could be seen as hard-adventure competition.

Another alternative is to do nothing. Consumers do not have to vacation. They may opt to spend the money they would have otherwise spent on a vacation on something else.

Strategy and Implementation Summary

Adventure Excursions Unlimited will be going after the upper-end of the hard-adventure market. This market up until now has been underserved, there are hard-adventure tour companies, but none that are catering to the high-end spectrum. With the adventuring traveling industry steadily increasing, AEU sees a unique opportunity.

AEU’s main objective in its marketing and sales activity is to make the impression on prospective customers that AEU offers a higher level of service relative to any other provider of hard-adventure tours. This will be communicated through all of the different media that we use. If AEU can make the impression that our trips are truly different and superior, then our research indicates that there will be steady demand.

Once AEU has clients signed up and participating on our trips, it will rely on superior customer attention and service to impress and retain clients for future trips. Developing long-term relationships will be the key to steady growth.

5.1 Competitive Edge

The competitive edge in our services is the access we provide to popular “hard” adventure sports without the budget constraint of typical travelers. That is, most travelers are looking to spend less than “hard” adventure sports without the budget constraint of typical travelers. The majority of providers cater to these people. Adventure Excursions Unlimited intends to use the same service providers but provide more exclusive trips. Accommodations will be primarily in small luxury hotels and resorts. Meals will be exceptional, more like gourmet cuisine. In addition, the adventure activities will be better than average because the clients have more money. They won’t get stuck with people they don’t like; they will get access to the best terrain, sections of rivers, etc. AEU’s activities are very popular. AEU’s target market has no problem spending $4,000 per week on heli-skiing. Moreover, they generally make this type of activity an annual event.

5.2 Sales Strategy

The sales strategy is to create long-term relationships with customers through superior service. The intent is to initially target the primary customer group. This group has been defined as persons who have purchased, or are likely to purchase, a “hard-adventure” vacation for over $2,500.

The trips planned are designed with the wealthy adventure traveler in mind. Later marketing efforts may include trips geared towards corporate clients, Eco-tourism or hard-adventure trips for people who want to spend less money. Target customers will be identified through standard research methods. There are a number of publications available that contain profiles of Adventure travelers.

Methods by which we will contact customers will depend on results of marketing/sales research. We will likely use trade or special interest magazines, direct mail, Web-based communication, and personal selling. In addition printed materials will be made available to customers through travel agencies that cater to the adventure target market. Initially, service will be introduced regionally, and possibly nationally. Sales will be extended into the global market within a few years of operation.

Our services are seasonal. Recurring revenue will be dependent upon successful trips involving a variety of activities offered year-round. We hope to promote out of season services through frequent customer contact and our own publication, most likely a magazine of some sort. We will review up-and-coming trips, offer highlights of past trips and try to do other creative articles, giveaways, customer profiles, etc.

Most sales will occur at the retail level. The sales that occur between customers and travel agencies will be discounted appropriately, approximately 15%. Transactions will occur as the result of customer contact in response to communication efforts. In addition, AEU will engage in personal selling.

5.2.1 Sales Forecast

The following charts and table shows AEU’s expected sales forecast.

5.3 Milestones

Adventure Excursions Unlimited will have several milestones early on:

• Business plan completion. This will serve as a roadmap for the organization. While AEU does not need a business plan to raise capital, it will be an indispensable tool for the ongoing performance and improvement of the company.
• Set up the office. This will be the main/only office located in Eugene, OR.
• Develop the training program. This program will be used to train the leaders of our trips.
• Completion of first trip.
• Completion of twentieth trip.

Management Summary management summary will include information about who's on your team and why they're the right people for the job, as well as your future hiring plans.">

Jordan Stephan, VP, Corporate Council, Business Development, and Mountain Biking Activity Supervisor : Jordan received his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, PA. While there, he was president of the Washington and Jefferson Cycling Club and Team for two years. He completed his Master of Business Management/Doctor of Jurisprudence, joint degree program at Willamette University where he has served as the secretary of the Environmental Law Society, and chairperson for the Willamette University Public Interest Law Project (WUPILP). As chairperson, Jordan supervised twenty-five staff members and raised $14,000. Jordan has also managed a bicycle shop for two years. Following graduate school, Jordan worked for Counterclaim.com where Jordan did business development, organizational development, and other management activities. He is responsible for all logistics on the mountain bike trips.

Jordan’s expertise in mountain bike trip logistics comes from years of cycle touring. Jordan has cycled across the country and around the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Vermont. Jordan has also done a great deal of backpacking, backcountry hiking and snowshoeing. He has served as a consultant on many long-distance bicycle tours in the United States and abroad. In addition to his role as logistical planner, Jordan will be responsible for part-manufacturing for the mountain bike trips as he has manufacturing expertise from several years of design and improvement experience with outdoor gear.

Jordan’s extra curricular activities are based upon his love for the outdoors. He has been a competitive cyclist and runner for the last five years. He competes in cycling road races, endurance mountain bike races, and road/trail running races up to half-marathons. His current favorite activity is the duathlon or run/bike/run events. He would like to combine his experience and education with his love for the outdoors. The AEU business concept is a reflection of this desire.

Jillyn Certo, VP, Human Resource Manager/Corporate Trainer, and Ski-trip Coordinator : Jillyn graduated with two Bachelor of Science Degrees, one in corporate and industrial fitness and the other in occupational safety, from Oregon State University in 1991. Jillyn completed her MBA work at Atkinson Graduate School of Management in 1998. She has six years experience in the field of safety. After Atkinson Jillyn worked at Nike as a human resource specialist. Her interests include scuba diving and downhill skiing. Jillyn has competed in track & field as well as in horse shows and barrel racing. Along with her interest in sports, Jillyn has a variety of experience with business and pleasure travel. Jillyn will supervise the training of our leaders.

Loren Harlo, Marketing Manager and White-water Adventure Coordinator : Loren is twenty-seven years old. He received his Bachelor degree in psychology from Western College and graduated Magna cum Laude. He will complete his Master of Business Administration degree (with an emphasis in marketing) in 1998. Following graduate school, Loren worked for Burley Cooperative as a marketing manager. Loren has been active in athletics for twenty-years. He played football at the grade school, high school and college level, as well as basketball, track and field, and competition karate. He is an avid outdoorsman with a passion for water sports, skiing, hiking, hunting and fishing. He has recently taken up kayaking. Loren gained self-employment and management experience as an independent contractor for the Union Pacific Railroad. He has also managed and operated a small restaurant. He has always planned to own his own business and realized, while working independently, that he needed the knowledge of business management that an MBA program could provide.

Though the founding members intend to take an active role in the operation of AEU, additional management will be sought out. AEU is open to assistance from experienced managers associated with venture capital providers.

6.1 Personnel Plan

The following table shows the personnel plan for AEU.

Financial Plan investor-ready personnel plan .">

The following subtopics will provide more financial information.

7.1 Projected Cash Flow

The following chart and table indicates projected cash flow.

7.2 Important Assumptions

See the following table for general assumptions.

7.3 Break-even Analysis

This Break-even Analysis table and chart, below, project the figures for monthly sales break even.

7.4 Projected Profit and Loss

The following table indicates the projected profit and loss.

7.5 Projected Balance Sheet

The following table will indicate the projected balance sheet.

7.6 Business Ratios

Business ratios for the years of this plan are shown below. Industry profile ratios based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 4725, Tour Operators, are shown for comparison.

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Travel Agency Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 10,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their travel agencies. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through a travel agency business plan template step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

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What is a Travel Agency Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your travel agency as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for a Travel Agency

If you’re looking to start a travel agency or grow your existing travel agency you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your travel agency in order to improve your chances of success. Your travel agency business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Source of Funding for Travel Agencies

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a travel agency are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable. But they will want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business.

The second most common form of funding for a travel agency is angel investors. Angel investors are wealthy individuals who will write you a check. They will either take equity in return for their funding, or, like a bank, they will give you a loan.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

Your travel agency business plan should include 10 sections as follows:

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of travel agency business you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have a travel agency that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of travel agencies.

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the travel agency industry. Discuss the type of travel agency you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers. Provide a snapshot of your marketing plan. Identify the key members of your team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will detail the type of travel agency you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types:

• Commercial Travel Agencies : this type of travel agency caters to business travelers. These agencies specialize in tracking down deals for business travelers to help companies manage travel costs.
• Online Travel Agencies : this type of travel agency exists only in cyberspace. They provide clients with the convenience of online booking and discounts that are available only to professional travel agencies.
• Niche Travel Agencies : this type of travel agency provides clients with specialized knowledge of a region.
• Membership Associations : Memberships associations give travelers access to the organization’s travel planning services for the cost of an annual membership rather than charging per transaction. This type of agency offers the most benefit to frequent travelers.

In addition to explaining the type of travel agency you operate, the Company Analysis section of your business plan needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to question such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include sales goals you’ve reached, new location openings, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry analysis, you need to provide an overview of the travel agency business.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the travel agency industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy particularly if your research identifies market trends. For example, if there was a trend towards glamping, it would be helpful to ensure your plan calls for plenty of luxury camping packages.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your travel agency business plan:

• How big is the travel agency business (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your travel agency. You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your travel agency business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: sports enthusiasts, soccer moms, baby boomers, businesses, etc.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of travel agency you operate. Clearly baby boomers would want a different atmosphere, pricing and product options, and would respond to different marketing promotions than businesses.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, include a discussion of the ages, genders, locations and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. Because most travel agencies primarily serve customers living in their same city or town, such demographic information is easy to find on government websites.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other travel agencies.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t direct competitors. This includes customers making travel arrangements themselves at home. You need to mention such competition to show you understand that not everyone who travels uses travel agency services.

With regards to direct competition, you want to detail the other travel agencies with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will be travel agencies located very close to your location.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What products do they offer?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide better travel packages?
• Will you provide products or services that your competitors don’t offer?
• Will you make it easier or faster for customers to book your offerings?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a travel agency business plan, your marketing plan should include the following:

Product : in the product section you should reiterate the type of travel agency that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific products you will be offering. For example, in addition to regular accommodation and transportation booking, will you offer items such as tour packages and excursions?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your marketing plan, you are presenting the packages you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your travel agency. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. For example, is your travel agency located next to a heavily populated office building, or highly trafficked retail area, etc. Discuss how your location might provide a steady stream of customers.

Promotions : the final part of your travel agency marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Making your travel agency’s storefront extra appealing to attract passing customers
• Distributing travel brochures outside the travel agency
• Advertising in local papers and magazines
• Reaching out to local bloggers and websites
• Social media advertising
• Local radio advertising
• Banner ads at local venues

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your travel agency such as serving customers, procuring supplies, keeping the office clean, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to serve your 1,000th customer, or when you hope to reach $X in sales. It could also be when you expect to hire your Xth employee or launch a new location.

Management Team

To demonstrate your travel agency’s ability to succeed as a business, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally you and/or your team members have direct experience in the travel agency business. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act like mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in travel agencies and/or successfully running retail and small businesses.

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements.

Income Statement : an income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenues and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you serve 50 customers per week or 100? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets : While balance sheets include much information, to simplify them to the key items you need to know about, balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. For instance, if you spend $100,000 on building out your travel agency, that will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $100.000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement : Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and make sure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.

In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a travel agency:

• Location build-out including design fees, construction, etc.
• Cost of equipment like computers, website/platform, and software
• Cost of marketing materials and maintaining an adequate amount of supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your store design blueprint or location lease.

Travel Agency Business Plan Summary

Putting together a business plan for your travel agency is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will really understand the travel agency business, your competition and your customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful travel agency.

Travel Agency Business Plan FAQs

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You can download our travel agent business plan PDF template here. This is a business plan template you can use in PDF format.

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A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating a Tour and Travel Business Plan

Are you thinking about starting a tour and travel business? If so, you will need to create a business plan. This document is essential for any business, and it will help you map out your goals and strategies.

In this blog post, we will outline a step-by-step guide on creating a tour company business plan. By following these steps, you will be able to create a plan that is tailored to your specific business. Let's get started!

Why Your Tour Company Needs a Tour Company Business Plan

For any tour company to be successful, they need to have a well-developed business plan.

A business plan acts as a roadmap, providing essential information on the market and industry you are operating in, the marketing strategy you can use to reach your target audience, pricing structures and legal regulations related to the operations of your business.

A well-crafted plan also allows entrepreneurs to budget their tours, identify potential areas of risk before they start operations and find ways to gain competitive edge over competitors. It serves as an invaluable guide that can help businesses make informed decisions on all aspects of running a prosperous venture while also providing assurance that they are compliant with all applicable local laws.

Benefits of a Tour Operator Business Plan

Having a written plan helps you set realistic objectives and develop operational marketing strategy built for success. So when starting out with your own tour company, it pays to invest time into creating an effective business plan that covers all bases.

Doing so will enable you to launch a strong product that stands out and provides customers ultimate satisfaction!

How do I write a tour operator business plan?

Now that you understand why a tour and travel business needs a well-crafted business plan, you're probably wondering how to create one. Sure, you can just use a tour business plan template, but it's still better to craft your own tour business plan.

So, here are the steps you need to follow to create one.

Executive summary

An executive summary is the first and most important part of your tour business plan. In a single page, you should include your company's mission and vision statement, objectives and strategies, financial projections and any other relevant information. This is the part where you need to grab people's attention and make a strong first impression.

As the word executive summary suggests, though, make sure it is short and to the point . You don't want to bore readers with lengthy introductions or details they don't need.

Important points to add in your executive summary are the following:

• clear business concept
• goals and vision
• what sets you apart
• your target market
• marketing strategies
• projected financial state
• the purpose of your business plan, whether to attract investors or strictly for your own planning purposes

Company overview

Your company overview should give a detailed understanding of who you are and what you do as a tour business. Explain your company's history, vision and mission statements along with the services you offer.

Be sure to also include not only what you do, but why you do it. Your company may have a unique angle that sets you apart from the competition.

For example, what is it in your skydiving or guided tours or adventures that sets you apart from the other you in your area? Defining your company overview serves as a brand story that your customers can connect to and guides you to the right direction.

Industry analysis

This is where you discuss the broad and deep travel industry research in your specific industry. An industry analysis is also called that market analysis of your travel business.

You need to identify the current tour and travel trends, understand your target market, evaluate existing tour companies in your field and analyze your strategies.

When analyzing the tourism industry where your travel agency business operates, you should also be aware of any new tour technology, laws, and regulations. Doing your due diligence on the tourism industry will give you a better understanding of the tour market and how to position your tour business.

Competitor analysis

Your tour business plan should also include a competitor analysis. This helps you understand the market forces and how your business can compete against them.

Analyzing tour competitors should include looking at your prices, packages and tour quality. Doing this will help you come up with ways to position your tour business and make it stand out.

You might also conduct a SWOT analysis to identify your company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Customer analysis

Having a tour plan that includes an analysis of your customers helps you understand your target clients. It involves researching their needs and preferences, satisfaction and feedback.

By doing customer research, you can better customize packages and services to meet your customers' needs. This will help them build loyal customer relationships, eventually resulting in more tour bookings.

Operational planning

Here goes the most detailed and meaty part of tour business planning. In this important section, you should include your legal structure, risk management strategies and management plans.

You should also include safety measures and policies they are planning to implement. This helps businesses stay organized, be accountable and avoid tour-related risks.

This is also where you will consider any tour software they might need to manage operations – from booking software, distribution channels, or any other partnerships with other businesses.

Team Summary

Use your team summary section to list the key people involved in your tour business and their roles. This is also where you can list any experts, guides, operators, and the management team you will be working with.

Using an organizational chart will allow you to quickly visualize the team structure and make sure all tour business roles are filled.

Financial planning

Your financial plan is an essential element of successful business planning. When creating a business plan, you should include revenue forecasts and expenses. They can also include pricing strategy, cost control methods, cash flow forecasts, financial statements and balance sheets.

Having a tour financial plan will help you make better business decisions, raise capital and compile budgets. If your travel company is seeking potential investors, you should also include your investment strategies and exit plans.

Marketing plan

It goes without saying that tour marketing is an important component of tour businesses.

Your tour business plan should include marketing strategies and promotion tactics. This includes your pricing, advertising channels, and other marketing ways. You should also consider how you are going to use social media and other tour-related technologies to reach your target customers.

Wrapping up

Creating a tour business plan can be overwhelming, but it is essential for tour businesses. Taking the time to do your research and include all the necessary elements in your tour business plan will help ensure success.

As an overview, here are the parts of a successful tourism business plan:

• executive summary
• company overview
• competitor analysis
• customer analysis
• operational plans
• team summary
• financial planning
• marketing plan.

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Investing in tour technology and software is also a great way to make your tour business stand out from the competition. Online reservation software for tour operators like Ticketinghub is designed to help tour businesses manage tour bookings, marketing and operations.

Our platform is simple enough for any business owner to use yet powerful enough to grow a large travel company's sales. We offer the most complete solution on the market with features like automated pricing, customizable booking engine, instant online quotes and more than 40 different languages supported by our customer service team.

Furthermore, you can integrate other programs and tools such as Google Analytics, Stripe, SumUp, and more.

Make the most of your tours and activities reservations with Ticketinghub. Book a demo to learn more today.

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Why Every Travel Advisor Needs a Business Plan…And How to Start One

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When you venture out on a trip by car, plane, or cruise ship, the operator uses a map or GPS for directions, right? The most effective way to get from point A to point B is by setting a clear pathway in advance and planning for any potential obstacles. This is equally true in running a travel agency business. Having a solid business plan helps you steer your time, energy, and resources from where you are now to where you want to be. We spoke to a few travel advisors who recently had the experience of learning from small business experts about the importance of creating a business plan for their travel agency. Here is what they had to say. A critical tool of empowerment “A business plan is important in that it helps you get a clear overview of your goals and objectives for your travel agency. Having a travel agency business plan is truly essential, whether starting a new agency or having been in the business for years … I think of it as a blueprint that will help me navigate through the travel industry, all while achieving my goals of doing the one thing that I love the most, and that’s helping my clients make memories,” says Gwen Johnson, CTC, owner and travel advisor, GMN Vacations, LLC. Paula McDonald, owner and travel advisor, of Family 1 st Travelers, LLC, says: “A business plan is not just a document; it's your compass, blueprint, and guiding star. It's the tool that empowers you to define your goals, identify your audience, and navigate through challenges.”

McDonald is experienced in the task of creating a business plan. She already had a business plan in place for her agency before participating this summer in a program to help travel advisors develop one. But she says she reviews it often, and the course facilitators encouraged her to revisit her goals. She has a clear understanding of why every travel advisor needs a business plan, which she eloquently shared with us.

“Having a business plan is crucial for travel advisors for several compelling reasons,” explains McDonald. “For example, it provides a roadmap for travel advisors and outlines specific goals, objectives, and strategies, giving a clear sense of direction. The business plan ensures the advisor focuses efforts and resources on activities aligning with the vision. It is essential to determine the business's financial stability and growth, and set realistic expectations for growth and profitability.  “A business plan challenges travel advisors to define their target market and niche. Knowing who the ideal customers are helps tailor services and marketing efforts to meet their needs and preferences. A business plan outlines marketing strategies, which are essential for attracting clients. “Additionally, with a business plan, travel advisors can allocate resources wisely. A well-structured business plan reflects professionalism and commitment. Without a business plan, a travel advisory business may lack direction and struggle to reach its full potential.”  What to include in the plan A well-thought-out business plan sets you up for success. There are several components to include in a winning business plan that - when crafted with deliberation, understanding, and commitment - can help travel advisors fast-track their sales and income.

As for what to include in a business plan, the mission statement clearly defines what your business is, what you offer, and what differentiates your products/services from others in the marketplace. The marketplace analysis section delves into who your target customer(s) are, including demographics (such as age, economic status, where they live, their travel styles), their hobbies, what motivates them, etc. Also key is to identify what the growth potential is for reaching that target audience within your sphere of influence. The financial section is crucial. This includes a plan that sets sales goals that are clear and realistic; pinpoints where target customers will come from; describes sales activities to reach the objectives of the business; addresses staffing needs and costs; and lays out monthly and yearly cash flow projections. The marketing component is critical. It is the roadmap to organize, execute, and track marketing strategies. This includes the different types of marketing tactics (such as website, email, social media posts and ads, events, word-of-mouth, and co-op marketing with suppliers); how to implement them; what it will cost; and how to track results and make relevant adjustments. The executive summary of a business plan is positioned first in the final document, but is often written last. It provides a short summary of the agency’s mission, growth goals for the coming year(s), and how those goals will be achieved. There are many courses led by small business associations and business coaches, both online and in person, that travel advisors can tap into for help in crafting a great business plan. Local community colleges often have classes, as well. And some travel industry partners assist in this regard, which is perhaps the most effective approach, since they understand the travel industry inside and out. Travel advisor aha moments Leigh Lee, owner and travel advisor, Our Next Adventure Travels, had an aha moment during the process of creating her business plan. It was “when one of the instructors told us to think outside the box and think how your business can be different. If it is a niche, then you can charge more because not everyone can do what you do. I always plan trips for my mom, who is a disabled veteran, and I realized that I love helping people who have disabilities. This is when I realized my passion for travel and my passion for helping people with disabilities can come together to make a successful business.

“This program made me realize that I have a niche market, and I have more value to offer to my clients because of my education and training.” Exactly the opposite, Johnson says: “When I was building my business plan, my aha moment was when I realized I didn't have to limit myself to a specific niche. I'm passionate about creating a memorable experience for my clients, and technology has helped me make that happen. For example, the digital itinerary product I use includes a chat feature that allows me to automate tasks and provide a more personalized touch.”

There are no correct or incorrect answers. Wherever the business planning process leads is valuable and unique to each travel advisor, and to achieving the business of their dreams. McDonald’s aha moment was “realizing the importance of understanding our target audience intimately. This ‘aha’ moment went beyond knowing that our focus was on our travelers; it meant diving deep into their unique needs and preferences. Through extensive market research and customer surveys, we unearthed invaluable insights. We discovered that the travel community sought convenient travel options and experiences catering to all age groups. This revelation led us to develop tailored packages incorporating activities for our business partners who travel with family and our families traveling with children, parents, and extended family members. This ‘aha’ moment fundamentally keeps us focused on the fact that we are in the business of creating unforgettable travel memories and experiences.”   

And their challenges As many of her peers would undoubtedly agree, Johnson describes: “The most challenging part of a travel business plan for me is the financial section. I’ve never been a fan of crunching numbers, but I understand how important it is to have a solid financial plan in place. The travel industry has so many factors that can affect the demand for travel, and it is constantly changing; therefore, you must be prepared for anything, including economic conditions, natural disasters, and competition. A strong financial plan will help you weather the storms.” For Lee, the challenge was “finding the statistics that supported the need for travel agents that assist people with disabilities. I needed to see the numbers before I changed my whole business around to mostly serve people who have disabilities. I overcame this obstacle by reaching out to other travel agents who have been in the travel business longer. The second thing was looking at my sales in the last year, and realizing I could have done more sales if I had written this business plan sooner.” McDonald explains that, for her, the most challenging aspects in creating the business plan “were undoubtedly patience and learning about our target audience. Developing a business plan requires careful thought, research, and deliberation. Creating a business plan is a process that can take time, as it lays the foundation for the entire venture. We overcame that by establishing a structured timeline and task list, allocating specific timeframes for each business plan section. Setting a structured time helped manage expectations and prevent the urge to rush through the process. Regular check-ins and progress reviews with the team ensured we stayed on track while allowing necessary adjustments.”

McDonald also describes: “Understanding family and corporate travelers' nuanced needs and preferences was a complex task. It required in-depth market research, customer surveys, and the flexibility to adapt as new insights emerged. This process demanded keen attention to detail and a willingness to listen and learn from our potential clients. We overcame that by investing time in market research and conducting thorough surveys to gather valuable data. We also directly talked with families and business owners through focus groups and individual interviews to better understand their travel desires and needs. This hands-on approach provided invaluable insights for our business plan, ensuring it was finely tuned to cater to the specific needs of our target audience.”

Take the first step How do you begin the considerable task of formulating a business plan? Just take the first step. “Start by envisioning where you want your travel business to be, then break it down into achievable milestones,” suggests McDonald. She also stresses: “Remember, patience is key. Building a thriving travel advisory business takes time. Take the time to research, learn, and refine your plan. Each adjustment brings you one step closer to your vision. And don't be afraid to seek guidance. Connect with mentors, attend workshops, and engage with the travel community. Their experiences can offer invaluable perspectives and steer you away from common pitfalls.”  FROM THE SPONSOR: This summer, Carnival Cruise Line conducted a nationwide "Your Winning Plan" roadshow and competition for travel advisors. The educational initiative gave travel advisors the opportunity to learn from business experts from the U.S. Small Business Association, while at the same time competing for $20,000 worth of prizes. Carnival encouraged the participating advisors to develop business plans with a tool created in cooperation with America’s Small Business Development Centers, a partner of the U.S. Small Business Association. The advisors were then invited to submit their plans and compete for cash to use toward implementing them. More than one thousand plans were submitted during the program. One of the semi-finalists will be named as the grand prize winner when celebrated entrepreneur Daymond John, star of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” helps to conclude the series at a grand finale event in Houston on September 27. Carnival President Christine Duffy will join John during the event to discuss tips for entrepreneurial success, and he will name the grand prize winner during an onstage celebration. For more information call 800-CARNIVAL or visit  www.goccl.com  or  www.carnival.com .

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Get Everybody “On Board”

Plan your trip collaboratively! Comment back and forth to get updates about who’s doing what. Delegate tasks so everyone has a voice in the voyage.

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How to Create a Business Plan for Your Tour or Travel Company

Do you have the next great tour business or travel company idea, but don’t know how to turn it into reality? You’ve found your niche and even come up with the best tour company name ever, but who do you tell and how do you get started? 

Table of Contents

Why your tour company needs a business plan.

We’ve previously covered topics on how to build your business, but one beneficial, even crucial, practice before you start is to write up a small business plan, one that compiles all the important aspects of your brand in a single 15-20 page document. Having a simple tourism business plan will help you plan for the future and even discover new things about your brand. 

Whether you’re a young entrepreneur building a tour startup in search of investors, or you’re an established tour operator looking to better understand your business and take it to the next level, a tour operator business plan can help guide you in the right direction. 

The Benefits of a Business Plan

As mentioned above, a tour company business plan is a document that outlines all the important aspects of your tour business. From your company goals and objectives, to your team members, and even your financial statements, a business plan is an effective tool for analyzing the ins and outs of your business.

It is the ultimate document used to convince investors and lenders to support your tour company. If you’re not looking for investors, writing a simple business plan for your tour business is still useful practice to align the leaders in your company, discover any shortcomings you might have missed, and plan for future growth.

How to Create a Tourism Business Plan

Now that you understand why having a small business plan is important, you’re probably wondering how to write one. You can use a business plan template, but it’s good to know why you’re including the information it asks for. It’s also acceptable to cater the content of your business plan to suit your unique company, but there are certain sections that investors expect to see, making them beneficial for you to include.

Here is what you need to include in your company’s business plan: 

Executive Summary

One of the most important sections of your business plan will be your executive summary, which serves as a high-level overview of your business, providing highlights of the fundamentals of your brand.

You’ll notice that most, if not all, of the topics covered within your executive summary will have their own dedicated section later on in your business plan. Because the executive summary is typically limited to a single page, leave the nitty-gritty details for their respective sections and use the executive summary as a way to simply introduce the topics to your reader. 

Executive summary topics:

• What is your business and what does it do? Do you host walking tours or provide bicycle rentals? Are you a tour guide or do you run a themed hotel experience? Give the reader a clear understanding of your business concept.
• What are your business goals and where do you envision your company in the future? How do you want to see your business grow?
• What makes your business different from your competitors? Whether you’re renting out a specific product like Segways or providing a service like guided tours, discuss what sets you apart from (and makes you better than) similar businesses in your industry.
• Who is your target audience? Who are you selling to and why are they interested?
• What is your marketing strategy? How do you plan to connect with and convert your customers?
• What is your current financial state? What is your projected financial state?
• What is the purpose of your business plan? Are you looking to secure investors and/or lenders? If so, how much are you asking for? You won’t need to discuss this if your business plan is strictly for your own planning purposes.
• Who is on your team, what are their job titles, and what do they do?

Again, like your business plan as a whole, not all of the topics listed above may be applicable to your business or your specific needs, so include only what you see fit. 

Company Overview

Your company overview should give your reader a detailed understanding of who you are and what you do. This includes technical topics like your business description, structure, and model, but should also cover the heart and soul of your company. That is, not only what you do, but why you do it. Developing your brand story is an important step to branding in the travel and tourism industry .

What is it about running a bungee jumping business, wine tasting tour, or spelunking course that inspires you? What is your company’s mission, vision, purpose, and USP (unique selling proposition)? What are your business goals and objectives, both short-term and long-term? Defining these aspects of your business helps readers, whether investors or your own employees, connect with your business at a deeper level.

Market Analysis

Another important section to include in your business plan for your tour company is a detailed market analysis. Even if you’re creating your business plan for internal use only, conducting market analysis and research is an excellent way to gauge your position within your industry, identify areas of concern, and create an effective marketing strategy using the 7 Ps of Travel and Tourism Marketing .

Things to consider in your market analysis include your target market and demographic, whether your marketing strategy is aligned with your target market, where you want to position yourself in the industry in relation to your competitors, and where you have room to improve. 

Try conducting a SWOT analysis for your tour business to explore your:

• Strengths – what do you do well?
• Weaknesses – what could you do better?
• Opportunities – are there gaps in your industry that you can take advantage of?
• Threats – what external factors affect your chance of success?

Team Summary

Use your team summary section to outline the leaders and key players in your tour company. An organizational chart works well to display this information and will usually explore members of management and other key personnel, their job titles, and their roles and responsibilities. Be sure to address how each person plays/will play an integral role in the success of your tour business or travel company.

Even if your business is very small or you run a sole proprietorship, it’s still worth including a team summary section so that potential investors can get to know who they’re investing in. A team summary adds a human element to your business plan and can help build your readers’ confidence by showing them that they can trust the leaders (even if it’s just you) to bring the company to success.

Financial Plan

Discuss your finances. What is your current financial state, what is your future financial projection, and how do you plan on getting there? If you’re looking for an investment, how much do you need? Include relevant documents, paperwork, statements, calculations, etc. to back up the numbers you’re sharing.

Marketing Plan

Needless to say, tour marketing is one of the most important aspects of your tour business.

Your business plan should have a detailed marketing strategy and promotional tactics, including pricing strategy, advertising channels, and innovative tactics. It should also leverage social media and other tourism-related technology to reach your target market effectively.

Your Business Plan Can Set You Up For Success

Investing the time up front to create a simple business plan for your tour company is worth the effort, and is crucial to becoming a successful tour operator. Going into anything without a plan can be risky, and starting a tour business is no different. 

Once you know how to write a business plan and understand the main components that make one effective, you’ll have an invaluable tool for securing investors and planning your company’s growth in the competitive tourism and travel industry. There’s really no better time than now, so go out there, write a killer business plan, and start the tour business of your dreams .

Written By | Edward Nieh

Edward Nieh is a freelance writer and copy editor working across multiple mediums for clients from various industries. He has a degree in creative writing with a focus on screenwriting for feature films.

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Top tips on how to plan a business trip

Follow these 6 steps for an effective business trip:

• Make your travel arrangements well in advance
• Select your accommodation based on both price and convenience
• Create an itinerary

Research your destination

• Remember your electronics, accessories and travel documents
• Prepare for your meeting

In today’s digital world, we can communicate across different time zones at a moment’s notice. However, when it comes to brokering a big deal or fostering a solid and long-lasting business relationship, nothing beats face-to-face interaction.  

Corporate travel is still so important, and it’s equally important for anyone making a business trip to prepare thoroughly. When you arrive at your destination relaxed and well-prepared, you’re better equipped to make a good impression and focus on the purpose of your meeting. Preparation lets your mind focus on the here and now, making sure you stay on the ball in that all-important meeting. If you’d like to fine-tune how you get ready for your next excursion, follow these essential tips to become an effective business trip planner.

Make travel arrangements

Whether it’s your name on the travel documents or you’re a travel manager, planning business travel thoroughly is important. Your first step should always be to familiarize yourself with your company’s corporate travel policy . You’re making travel arrangements for a business trip, not planning a personal or a short break, so being compliant with your company policy is essential.

Next, it’s time to book your travel. This may involve traveling by air, rail, car hire or even boat. Think about the journey door-to-door, balancing travel times against cost and convenience. Visualize the various steps of the trip from A to B. Consider details like how long it will take to move between airport and railway station, the time it takes to fill out paperwork at the vehicle hire company, and whether luggage storage might be useful. Use multiple sources and different comparison sites, researching which companies are offering the best deals. Again, be aware of any budget restraints in your company’s travel policy.

Don’t forget the small details. Does the airplane have Wi-Fi so you can work on the move? Would leaving a day earlier allow you to arrive at your first meeting better rested and prepared? At this stage, the more carefully you prepare, the more confident and relaxed you’ll be when you depart.

Select your accommodation

Preparing business travel is, of course, only half the job. Choosing the best accommodation for your requirements is also essential. If you’ve only got one meeting place to reach, make sure you book a hotel that’s nearby – rather than be swayed by a more luxurious option that might be a stressful 45 minute trip away. Use maps on your smartphone to measure distances from the station or airport to your hotel – and remember the roads and transport networks will be busier at certain times of day.

Check your company’s hotel policies to see if there are any preferred hotels - you might be able to get a good deal too. When considering the cost, make sure you compare rates for similar types of accommodation and make sure you select something that’s fairly priced – some companies even stipulate a cost per day that would limit the choice of hotels.

It’s also a good idea to pay close attention to the amenities at the hotel. Some tourist-focused hotels may serve breakfast too late for your early starts, and as a business traveler you’re likely to want free Wi-Fi, 24-hour room service, plenty of power points for charging your devices. CWT Hotel Intel gives travelers access to trusted peer hotel reviews and can be a handy tool for business trip planners.

Create a detailed itinerary

Your itinerary is your blueprint for a successful business trip. Use it to stay in control of every detail – from transport times and the names of those you’re meeting, to your travel reservations and hotel address. Be sure to allow yourself extra time on your itinerary for relaxing, meetings that have been delayed or overrun, and busy traffic. Consider using a specially designed tool like the myCWT app , which syncs your itinerary with work calendars, and allows travelers to share this with colleagues. This is handy from a communication and efficiency perspective, and as a safety measure if you’re travelling to an unfamiliar destination.

It may be that you’re traveling to a destination you are familiar with and feel comfortable in. Or, you may be entering unchartered territory. If that’s the case, research is essential to avoid unnecessary risk. For example, some cities are well known for pick pockets, so you’ll need to be extra careful when storing important and expensive items like phones in your pockets. Depending on where you’re going, reading up on the current political situation at your destination could also be prudent.

Perhaps you’re traveling to a city or country with a different culture and customs to your own. Avoid looking foolish or, worse, causing offence, by researching the differences in behavior and manners before you arrive. For example, if you’re taking potential clients for a meal, do you know the etiquette on tipping, or when to give people your business cards? Or, if you’re visiting a country where English isn’t the common language, you could even learn a few basic phrases, such as greetings and “thank you”, which could make all the difference when making a good first impression.

Prepare your travel documents

Hours of careful preparation and research will all be wasted if you forget vital travel documents. Traveling between countries requires a current, valid passport, travel tickets and sometimes a visa. It’s key to research whether or not you need a visa as soon as possible, even if you are just transiting through a country, without stepping foot outside the airport. Some embassies can take a number of days or even weeks to issue visas. Even if you’re not traveling to a different country, you may need photo ID to clarify that your name corresponds to the one on the ticket - your passport or driving license are the best options so keep them safe at all times.

Remember your electronic accessories

Stay as productive as possible on your trip by taking a laptop or tablet – it’ll make your travel time really count. Remember to pack the relevant chargers and adapters, too. You can usually pick these up at the airport when you’re passing through, but being prepared is key and will save you time and money in the long run.

Get ready for your meeting

So you’ve followed all the right steps for planning a business trip, but what about your business objectives and the meeting itself? Making a note of what you hope to achieve on the trip can help improve your focus - even if you simply want to reach out to new contacts or gain a general overview of potential new client. Arm yourself with as much information as possible about the people you’ll meet, as well as the places they’ll be. What’s the dress code? If you’re visiting an industrial site, for example, will you need sturdy shoes? If you’re going to be giving a presentation, what format will it take and will your host have the equipment you need? Simply emailing ahead to check if they have suitable screens and cables can ensure you avoid embarrassing delays or confusion that would get your meeting off to an awkward start. That first impression counts so give yourself the best chance of making a good one.

By setting aside the time to prepare, conducting some detailed research and following these business travel tips, you can optimize your chances of a productive and enjoyable trip.

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There's an easier way to plan and organize your trips—here's how

May 14, 2019

[[read-time]] min read

Travel planning is complicated. The number of tools and amount of information you need to sift through when deciding where to go, where to stay and what flight to take can be time consuming and overwhelming. That’s why today, we’re simplifying the way we help travelers plan trips with Google across devices.

When you’re planning a trip—whether you’re on desktop or mobile—we want to help you find the information you need, fast. Last year , we simplified trip planning by making navigation between Google Flights, Hotels, and Trips easier on smartphones. We’re now rolling this out on desktop as well. You can either go to google.com/travel or search for something like “hotels in Tokyo” or “Vancouver” to find travel information from a variety of sources in one place.

As you plan a trip, your research and reservations will be organized for you in Trips. As we continue to evolve Google Trips, we’re making this information more accessible at google.com/travel, and in Google Search and Google Maps. We’re also adding a few new features to make planning and organizing your trips easier.

One place for all of your trip details

Last year , we started adding your trip reservations for things like hotels and flights to a trip timeline for your upcoming trips, when you’re signed into your Google account and you’ve received a confirmation in Gmail. When you go to google.com/travel, you can now make edits directly to your trips timeline, and in a few weeks you’ll be able to manually add new reservations as well.

Whether you’re packing your bags or finalizing your travel dates, the weather is an important part of every trip. You’ll now see the weather for any upcoming or potential trips at google.com/travel—so you can make sure you’re prepared, rain or shine.

Keep track of research and keep planning

It often takes days or weeks to plan a trip. When you need to pick up planning again, we’ll keep track of your trip research across Google. Recent searches, saved places and flights you’re tracking are added automatically to your trips when you’re signed into your Google Account. Soon, we’ll add viewed things to do and saved and viewed hotels to your trips. When you want to continue planning, all of your research will be waiting for you at google.com/travel. If you don’t want to see private results, you can opt out by adjusting your results and web & app activity settings.

When you’re ready to continue researching other parts of your trip, scroll down to see travel articles and find out more about a destination like suggested day plans, popular restaurants around your hotel and events happening during your dates.

Continue planning on-the-go  

When you’re on-the-go or visiting a new place, we’ll do more to highlight things to do, restaurants and more with Google Maps. For instance, last year we made it easier to find the best places to see and things to do when using Google Maps to explore a new place. Now, we’ll also help you get the lay of the land when you’re traveling by pointing out popular neighborhoods nearby and what they’re known for.

And in the next few months, your trips—including reservations for things like hotels and restaurants—will be accessible in Google Maps, too.

Our goal is to simplify trip planning by helping you quickly find the most useful information and pick up where you left off on any device. We’ll continue to make planning and taking trips easier with Google Maps, Google Search and google.com/travel —so you can get out and enjoy the world.

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11 Free Travel Itinerary Templates for Your Next Trip in Google Docs, Excel, & Word

Content Partnership Specialist

April 8, 2024

There are a lot of things that go into planning a trip.

From scheduling flights, booking hotels and car rentals, planning activities, and ensuring all of them fit within your timeline and budget too!

Whether you’re a seasoned traveler or simply someone looking to create an organized travel schedule for your upcoming trip, then you should consider using an itinerary template. 

Itinerary templates help you organize your activities, manage your time , calculate your expenses, give you a breakdown of all your important travel information before a trip, and help you make the most out of your business trip or vacation. 

Head over to the sections below to find out what makes a good itinerary template, and discover 11 free templates you can use to help you plan your next trip! 🏝️

What is an Itinerary Template?

What makes a good travel itinerary template, 1. clickup business travel itinerary template, 2. clickup vacation itinerary template, 3. clickup trip planner template, 4. clickup event planning itinerary template, 5. clickup 24 hour itinerary template, 6. clickup basic agenda template, 7. clickup conference itinerary template, 8. clickup board meeting agenda template, 9. excel vacation itinerary template, 10. google docs travel itinerary template, 11. microsoft word business trip itinerary template.

An itinerary is a document that outlines all of the details of your trip, from your flight and hotel reservations to your planned activities and budget, to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

That said, trip planners should turn to itinerary templates to give you ready-to-use and organized fill-in-the-blank pages that you can use for every type of trip. 

Itinerary templates can help business and leisure travelers:

• Save time, plan more effectively, and provide an organized format for all the important details of their trip
• Have a digital planner to keep track of all the details they need to consider when planning their travel, such as dates and locations, transportation and accommodations, and activities
• Get quick access to all of the necessary details in one place
• Help manage last-minute changes more effectively

Think of these free itinerary templates as your personal travel agent assistant. They’re there to assist you with planning the most important parts of your trip, so you spend more time enjoying the moment than worrying about what’s next and how you’re getting there.

Moreover, creating a detailed travel itinerary is beneficial if you’re visiting a new city or country you’ve never been to before. 

So what should a travel itinerary look like? Let’s take a look!

There are several types of itinerary templates for different occasions. The most commonly used and sought templates are for business trips, vacations, event planning, and global and domestic travels.

And while there are many types of itinerary templates out there, the best ones offer the following basic elements: 

• Have clear and concise language
• Organized and easy-to-read format
• Customizable and easy to edit
• Easily accessible and sharable 

And if you need to shift your plans around due to unexpected changes, a solid travel itinerary template should offer the flexibility to let you make changes without compromising the flow of your trip. It also shouldn’t require you to start your travel itinerary from scratch.

Ultimately, these templates should help you create a personalized travel itinerary, save time, and stay organized to help you become a better planner.

Speaking of which—here are 11 hand-picked travel itinerary templates that can help you with that! Each one offers a unique format and features. Check them one by one to see which templates suit your needs the best.

11 Travel Itinerary Templates for Your Next Trip

Traveling for work? 

This Business Travel Itinerary Template by ClickUp can help you get all your important travel details and work schedules, all in one place. 

Easily notate your travel dates, hotel information, flight number, and other important information in an organized and easy-to-follow format in ClickUp Docs . If you have multiple travel plans or want to keep your past and future travel itinerary docs in one place, then simply add nested pages under one Doc to keep everything neatly organized and accessible.

And because ClickUp Docs allow you to have full control of sharing permissions and privacy, you can keep your pages private to protect your personal information or securely share them with selected people via a link.

Best of all, ClickUp is available on the mobile app , so you can take your itinerary template wherever you go and access it any time of the day.

Use this free travel itinerary template to streamline your business travel planning process and establish a consistent standard itinerary that you can use again and again.

Planning a road trip or exploring a new city?

Whatever type of vacation you’re planning for, this Vacation Planning Travel Itinerary Template by ClickUp can help you create a visual roadmap of your planned activities.

With this free travel itinerary template, you’ll be able to plan your destinations, use ClickUp Custom Fields to add important details such as hotel addresses, type of activity, hours of operation, travel time, accommodations, reservations, and so on to ensure you’re on the right track to hit all the spots you have planned to visit on your trip!

Additionally, this template allows you to visualize your road trip itinerary in Map view, as shown above, and other views in ClickUp, such as List, Embed Board, and Doc view. Each custom view offers a unique look at your travel itinerary to help you visualize and organize your plans in the best way that works for you. 

Use these vacation planning templates to give you the structure and organization you need to plan your next trip and have a stress-free getaway!

Streamline your travel planning with ClickUp’s Trip Planner Template ! Say goodbye to the chaos of scattered details and hello to a centralized hub for all your trip essentials. From flights to accommodations, activities to budgets, this template has you covered. Save time by organizing everything in one place and ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

With customizable features like custom statuses, fields, and views, you can tailor the template to suit your specific needs. Collaborate effortlessly with friends and family to create the ultimate travel experience. Whether you’re jetting off for a quick getaway or planning a work trip, this template provides the tools you need for a successful trip.

Set your budget, research destinations, create itineraries, and finalize details all within ClickUp’s intuitive platform. Track progress, assign tasks, and monitor productivity with ease. From start to finish, ClickUp’s Trip Planner Template empowers you to plan your dream trip efficiently and effectively.

Whether you’re born with natural event planning skills or perhaps someone who’s looking to get better at it, this Event Planning Itinerary Template by ClickUp can help you plan your next events with ease!

This event planning itinerary template includes three highly visual ClickUp Views that can be customized for any need, from organizing and scheduling event dates on a List and Board to drag-and-drop planning on a Calendar.

Each view provides pre-built Custom Fields, which allow you and your team to add important details, such as progress percentage bars, payment status, due dates, budget status, and more. You can also create Custom Task Statuses to help identify the stage each task is, keeping everyone in the loop on where each task stands at all times. 

You can download the app on your mobile device to access your tasks regardless of your event’s location, and use this itinerary template to help you become a pro at planning events and start managing all of your business operations, teams, and event planning —all in one place. 

Sometimes, it’s best to take things day by day, especially when your workload and to-do lists are getting out of hand. 

Seize the day and stay productive (and motivated) by turning to the 24 Hours Itinerary Template in ClickUp to guide you when creating your daily schedule!

This free itinerary template includes pre-built Custom Fields and Custom Task Statuses to help you easily plan and visualize your daily tasks. And because those features are fully customizable, you can edit and add whatever fields and statuses work best for your workflow.

Use this template to assist you with daily planning , so you easily view all of your to-dos, stay focused on what’s on your plate each day, and make the most of every day!

Meetings are a great way to sync with people in real time.

However, without a proper agenda, you might forget to discuss important matters, lose control of the meeting flow, and veer off track, leaving the attendees with more questions than answers or thinking, “this could’ve been an email.” 😅

Don’t let that happen to you! 

Whether you’re hosting a face-to-face or virtual meeting, having a prepared agenda beforehand keeps your meetings productive and helps make the most of your attendee’s time— the free Agenda Template by ClickUp can help you prep for your next meeting.

This template provides you with sections for your meeting details, participants, and so much more. And because this template is available ClickUp Docs, you can easily format the page to support any type of meeting , embed links to add more details to your agenda, and easily share it with your team before the meeting so they can come prepared with insights or questions. 

Use this itinerary template to help you plan and keep your next meetings productive! 

Planning a conference and need a conference agenda template ?

This Conference Itinerary Template by ClickUp can help you create, visualize, and manage your events all in one centralized place.

This template offers pre-built views, such as Box, Calendar, and List view, and Custom Fields and Custom Task Statuses to allow you to create your ideal itinerary for your event. Moreover, you can add custom tags to your tasks to add another layer of organization to your itinerary and add new Custom Fields to keep your tasks as detailed as possible as you plan your live or virtual conference events .

And if you need help getting started, no problem. It comes with a Getting Started Guide to help you get familiarized with the template and serve as a guide to help you plan your next event !

A meeting agenda is a must, especially for board meetings. 

The Board Meeting Agenda Template in ClickUp offers pre-built Custom Fields to help board members and leadership create a high-level and organized meeting agenda, and run productive meetings. You may also add single or multiple assignees to each task and subtask to clearly note who’s responsible for completing the task or presenting the topics and check them off the list as each task or topic has been discussed to easily track and note what is yet to be completed.

Use this itinerary template to help you create an organized meeting agenda , keep everyone in the loop ahead of the meeting, and promote open discussion among all participants, which can lead to stronger decisions and better outcomes.

If you’re an Excel user, then this template is for you.

Microsoft Excel offers a handy Vacation Itinerary template that you can use to organize all of your trip details. Whether you want to start a road trip itinerary with friends or a personalized itinerary of your full trip, this trip itinerary template includes entries for flight information, lodging, emergency contacts, activities, and so on. 

Once you’ve filled out the template with the details of your trip, simply save it on your computer or print it to take a physical copy of your itinerary with you or leave a copy for your friends and family while you’re away on your vacation.

If you like keeping things simple when planning your trips, then this travel itinerary template will work for what you need.

This template allows you to add and edit your travel details, such as destinations, transportation, lodging, and what you need to pack for your trip, in organized tables in Google Docs (where you can also connect to Google Sheets). 

This is one of the many customizable templates that’s free to download. Save it on your computer or print a copy to take with you!

Keep your business trips as stress-free as possible by creating a detailed flight itinerary, meeting schedule, and more all on one page. Use Microsoft Word’s Business Trip Itinerary template to keep track of important dates, departure and arrival times, destination addresses, phone numbers, travel time, and other notes about each item on your itinerary. 

Start Planning Your Next Trip with Travel Itinerary Templates

When it comes to planning trips, having an itinerary is key.

But we get it. Making a detailed itinerary can be quite time-consuming. That’s why using an itinerary template can be such a great tool! Stay organized and use the templates we provided above as a starting point for creating your own customized itinerary for your upcoming trips and events.

And if you’re a fan of customizations, then you’ll click well with ClickUp. 

It offers a fully customizable platform with hundreds of features and templates to give you the power to create a personalized experience, connect all your notes and work together, and build a workflow and itineraries that work for you.

Get access to ClickUp’s customizable templates for free today, and start getting excited about planning your next event! 

Bon voyage! 👋

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Planning a business trip 101: Tips for regular business travelers

There’s a lot to consider when planning a business trip. This guide is designed to make sure you’re prepared to get going. Travel for business is easier when you’re prepared.

By Jessica Freedman

February 9, 2024

Planning a business trip is not always fun and games ; there’s a lot to think about. Whether you’re a small business owner, a regular business traveler or a travel manager, it’s sometimes hard to know where to start. You have to deal with searching for the best travel deals, planning the ideal itinerary, and if you’re the one traveling, make a packing list.

Dealing with all that goes into planning business trips for yourself, your boss and your company is no easy task, which is why we’ve created this Business Trip 101 to help you get going. Travel easier and be sure how to plan a business trip after reading this guide. 

Get going, travel easier

The more efficient your planning is, the more productive you can be on your business trips as a regular business traveler because you will have a clear agenda and know where your priorities lie. When it comes to corporate travel there is a lot to keep in mind such as flight and hotel bookings, scheduling, ground transportation, checked baggage vs. hand luggage and everyone’s agendas. The more organized you are, the better yours and your team’s results will be.

How to plan a business trip

Planning a business trip can take a lot of work, and part of that is making sure you can balance the business traveler’s mental health (or if you’re the one planning, you have your own wellbeing in mind) as well as the physical needs with the objectives of the company. This is why it’s so important to start with a goal. This way you can see if your agenda is feasible and whether it helps work towards achieving a goal while also following a rhythm that is feasible for the person doing the traveling. If you can, try to have a master planning list that allows you to optimize the time that goes into planning, and then you can more easily replicate for future trips.

1. Start with a goal

If you are looking for how to plan a business trip and stay efficient, we suggest you start with a goal for your business trip . Figure out what you want to accomplish and why you must take a trip to do so. With a goal in place it will be easier to figure out your objectives and then track KPIs related to the trip. KPIs could be the number of new clients onboarded, number of new prospects, number of sales contacts, or goals like designing the Marketing Plan for the following year or simply teambuilding, depending of course on the goal of your business trip.

If you are a regular business traveler traveling for a sales meeting, why not set up several meetings with different potential clients and current clients in the same area to avoid having to travel so frequently? This way you can focus on quality business trips over quantity, which makes them more productive and you will experience less travel fatigue, especially for regular business travelers. 

2. Plan travel once and repeat

Sometimes the biggest part of getting anything done is devising a plan. So start your business trip planning by coming up with a travel plan that is easily replicable for future trips. Start by making a list of everything that you need to do to plan and turn it into a checklist. Business travel like any project needs a roadmap to get anything accomplished.

Need a helping hand to get started? Download our checklist!

3. create a master business trip itinerary.

Creating standard itinerary for a business trip oftentimes will fall in the hands of an administrative or HR professional, but if one isn’t provided for you, there are some important details you must consider jotting down such as transportation times and details, travel reservation and confirmation numbers, addresses, emergency contact information, check in and check out times for the hotel, day-to-day schedule details (such as what time do meetings start, where and how long do they go), as well as contact information for the people you will be meeting with. 

It may seem overwhelming at first but once you have a master business trip itinerary outline it will be easily replicable for your next trip. If you work with a travel management company like GetGoing , you can store all your itineraries and travel documents in one place making managing your business trips as easy as the snap of a finger. 

4. Store all business trip-related documents in one place

As we’ve mentioned, when you work with a travel management company, all of your business and trip-related documents will be stored in one place on the web app, including important contact information for travelers, hotel information, emergency contacts, and a support phone number to call in case of issues. 

If you are booking all your regular business trips on your own without the support of a TMC, then be sure to have a spreadsheet and shared drive dedicated to your travel plans and itineraries. It will be easier to keep track of everything and ensure nothing gets missed.

Packing and trip lists: lists are your friend

When it comes time to pack for your business trip there is nothing more important than having a list ready with everything you need to start your business travel plans, especially if you’re a regular business traveler. That means having a running list of those elements that you can’t travel without like your passport or ID, your computer, a mouse, a pen and notebook, or your business cards.

Consult our ultimate packing list for more ideas about the travel essentials.

Make a list of all the travel extras

Extras can be things like checking a bag, traveling business class on a flight, purchasing an in-flight meal, having a driver pick you up, and more. The kinds of extras permitted might depend on your company’s travel policy. For example, taking a taxi instead of the bus to the airport may or not be allowed based on the budget per trip your company has in mind, so make sure to check with your travel manager, HR or office manager about what is and is not allowed. 

Search for business travel deals

Finding business travel deals is perhaps the most important and time-consuming task when it comes to making your business travel arrangements. If your company doesn’t already work with a TMC, you may consider urging them to sign up for a corporate travel management solutions company who can help you find the best (and most convenient) travel deals . 

Some other cheap travel hacks for regular business travelers are:

• Be flexible with dates
• Travel in the middle of the week instead of Monday or Friday.
• Consider traveling via a historically cheap destination to get to your final destination
• Go with budget flight options like RyanAir, EasyJet or Vueling

Business travel by flight

Business travel by flight is one of the hardest parts of booking a business trip. How can you find the most convenient and shortest route without having to pay an arm and a leg? There is also a fine balance between the amount of time you dedicate to searching for cheap flights and the amount you pay because after all time is money, so you don’t want to whittle away your time to spend a little less. 

It’s also hard to know, whether hand luggage is enough for you when traveling by air, whether it’s worth-it to book business or first class (and if your company even allows it). One of the most important things is to familiarize yourself with your company’s travel policy so you don’t find surprises when it comes time to having your travel approved. 

Checked or hand luggage only: Is hand luggage enough for you when traveling by air?

So should you go with checked or hand luggage only? Is hand luggage enough for you when traveling by air? Our rule of thumb when is to ask yourself the following questions, which can help you decide whether hand luggage is enough or if you should consider fronting the extra bucks to check a bag:

• Is your meeting formal or informal? If it’s formal you may want to consider checking a bag so you can keep your suit or blouse from wrinkling.
• How many days are you traveling for? 1-4 days of informal business travel can easily be packed into hand luggage only. Beyond 5 days, it’s definitely worth checking a bag or if you have to deal with cold weather or different climates on the different stops in your trip.
• Will you be adding time on for bleisure or blended travel? If you decide to add in extra days either before or after your trip you may consider throwing in a bathing suit to hit the beach or the spa or some extra clothes that don’t necessarily scream “I’m on a business trip.”
• What kind of traveler are you? If you’re the kind of traveler that wants to throw in your rain boots and parka in case it rains when you’re traveling to Spain that has an average of 50 days of rain a year, then you might consider checking a bag. If you’re a “worst case scenario” type of traveler then just a carry-on will most likely never suffice. 

Hotels for business travelers

Choosing the right hotels for regular business travelers is no easy decision. Breakfast or no breakfast? What kind of amenities are non-negotiable? Is it better to be close to the office or downtown? Should you choose a hotel just because they include airport pick-up? There are so many questions to ponder that we’re going to dedicate an exclusive post just to choosing hotels for business travelers. Stay tuned.

Use the right tools for booking hotels for your business trip

Kayak, Skyscanner, Google flights or Hopper are all great tools for your every day trip, but when it comes to business travel, you want a company like GetGoing travel management for businesses that will help optimize and streamline your booking process. The easier trip planning is, the less time you will have to spend planning and the more productive you can be in your daily job. 

And that’s how you plan a business trip

Review and refine the process for planning a business trip . To do so, create a short survey that you can share with your team so you can evaluate how the trip went and assess whether the goals of the meeting were accomplished. This is an important step, especially when deciding whether to travel or not to travel for future trips.  The more often you reach your goals and the more your goals are reliant on a trip to meet them, the more it makes sense to travel. 

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The rising dark side of business travel ceos need to pay attention to.

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It's time for companies to rethink their approach to business travel.

The business landscape has rapidly changed since the pandemic, with remote work and hybrid models becoming more prominent. Despite these workforce shifts, one aspect remains constant: business travel.

Business travel is back in full force following an expected dip during the pandemic. Corporate travel budgets are returning to pre-pandemic levels, and more companies are planning budget expansions. A Morgan Stanley survey revealed that over two-thirds of companies with under $1 billion in annual revenue anticipated increased travel budgets in the coming year.

The Impact of Frequently Flying

Frequent travel can significantly impact an individual's physical, emotional, and mental well-being . While companies prioritize conventional risk management areas, they often overlook the personal well-being of their travelers. From maintaining a healthy diet to proper sleep and various emotional components such as loneliness and separation, business travelers encounter numerous potential long-term health disruptions that non-traveling employees don't face.

Business travelers had higher claims than non-travelers for all health conditions across the board, along with a higher likelihood of stress-related disorders, as reported in the Harvard Business Review . Lastly, as shared in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine , frequent business travel adversely affects overall body composition, leading to risks of obesity and various other ailments if left unmanaged, such as heart disease and diabetes.

More and more companies are prioritizing workplace wellness due to factors such as obesity's $400 billion impact on companies . Corporate travel wellness programs are a necessary part of the equation as well. As you look to implement a modern and more robust travel wellness program, start with these two areas:

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New apple id password reset issue hitting iphone ipad and macbook users, messi blocks fc barcelona star from joining inter miami reports el nacional, embrace bleisure travel.

When attracting and retaining the best people, more and more employees choose lifestyle over salary . It's not out of laziness. It's out of a desire for work-life integration. With this in mind, organizations can embrace employees' desires through bleisure . Organizations can promote work-life integration and rejuvenation by allowing employees to combine business trips with leisure activities.

Implementing flexible travel policies that enable team members to extend their trips on the back end is a way to improve employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention rates. Research shows that 89% of business travelers wanted to add a private holiday to their business trips. Traveling for work is energetically demanding, physically and mentally. A few extra days for leisure allow team members to process their trip, recharge, and return at total capacity.

Treat Your Employees Like Athletes

Just as professional athletes require careful management of their physical, emotional, and mental well-being , so do business travelers. Business travel is a stressor with a high burnout rate and decreased performance across the board. As you revamp your corporate wellness travel program, consider your approach to business travel as a sports team thinks of traveling to play an away game.

As you prepare the company playbook for healthier and more productive business traveling, consider the following:

• Providing support for handling jet lag
• Offering advice on maintaining healthy sleep and nutritional habits away from home
• Investing in business class and non-stop flights
• Providing hotels that have conducive amenities for optimal well-being
• Ensuring team members reside in centrally located hotels or apartment hotels

Business travel isn't going anywhere anytime soon, as the average business traveler takes roughly 6.8 trips per year, with business travel in the U.S. from domestic and international travelers also accounting for $387 billion in annual revenue, according to research shared over at Zippia . Incorporating travel wellness initiatives isn't merely an expense; it's an investment in employees' health and performance.

As organizations revamp their corporate travel programs, prioritizing their travelers' well-being is paramount. By implementing strategies to support travel wellness, companies can ensure that their employees remain healthy, engaged, and effective representatives of their companies.

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Tin Leg Travel Insurance Cost

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Tin Leg Travel Insurance: An In-Depth Review

Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate insurance products to write unbiased product reviews.

Before finalizing your travel plans, look into various insurance policies to safeguard yourself against potential risks. Travel insurance is an invaluable resource that can protect you from many unforeseen issues, but not all companies provide the same level of coverage. And some companies' policies may cost more than others.

That's where Tin Leg Travel Insurance comes in. Created by travel agency Squaremouth, Tin Leg Travel Insurance offers eight different plans with varying coverage levels and benefits, with the option to add Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) coverage to select plans. Keep reading to see if Tin Leg Travel Insurance is the right travel insurance for you.

Trip cancellation coverage for up to 100% of the trip cost and trip interruption coverage for up to 150% of the trip cost

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Policy coverage includes most pre-existing health conditions
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Generous medical and evacuation amounts for peace of mind
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. COVID coverage included by default on all insurance plans
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Offers a wide range of plans for various budgets and travel needs
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Some plans offer CFAR, “cancel for work reasons,” financial default, and unemployment coverage
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Limited add-on coverage options
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Baggage loss and delay coverage is low compared to competitors

Tin Leg travel insurance offers eight travel insurance plans to meet the unique needs of travelers.

• Tin Leg was founded in 2014 by the travel insurance industry experts at Squaremouth. Designed to meet the most common needs of travelers, these policies offer comprehensive Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption benefits, and a range of Emergency Medical and Medical Evacuation limits.

Overview of Tin Leg Travel Insurance

Tin Leg Travel Insurance is a travel insurance provider founded in 2014 by travel insurance aggregator SquareMouth. With eight different plans, Tin Leg Travel Insurance is one of the providers listed in our guide on the best travel insurance companies , specifically for travelers with pre-existing conditions. We chose Tin Leg Travel Insurance because seven of its eight plans offer pre-existing condition waivers, with a 15-day purchase window and no extra cost.

That said, Tin Leg Travel Insurance has other coverages that are noteworthy. Its coverage limits for emergency evacuation go up to $1 million, which is great particularly if you have nautical travel plans as water-to-land rescues can be costly.

Additionally, sports equipment loss is included with seven of Tin Leg Travel Insurance's eight plans. However, you will need to call for more information on adventure sports, as Tin Leg Travel Insurance doesn't guarantee coverage.

Tin Leg's Travel Insurance Plans

Tin Leg Travel Insurance travel insurance offers eight travel insurance plans: Economy, Basic, Standard, Luxury, Adventure, Silver, Platinum, and Gold. Each plan offers varying levels of protection that correspond to the premium costs.

Here's a look at what you'll get with each plan. We've split the eight plans into two tables to make things easier to follow.

Here's how the Adventure, Silver, Platinu, and Gold plans compare:

Additional Coverage Options

Tin Leg Travel Insurance travel insurance offers additional coverage options, but they're only available on specific plans.

You can add rental car damage coverage to the Luxury plan for an additional fee. And both the Gold and Silver plans allow you to add on CFAR (cancel for any reason) coverage . With CFAR coverage travel insurance, you can cancel for any reason not listed in the base policy and be reimbursed — in the case of Tin Leg Travel Insurance, for 75% of your trip costs.

How to Purchase and Manage Your Tin Leg Policy

Travel insurance coverage varies greatly, and  the amount you pay reflects the range of protection . However, since travel insurance protects your financial investment, it's typically worth spending a few extra dollars for higher coverage maximums, especially for medical insurance and evacuation expenses.

Getting a quote from Tin Leg Travel Insurance travel insurance is an easy process. You can do so from their website or an insurance aggregator like SquareMouth. You should be prepared to provide the following information:

• Number of travelers
• Age of traveler(s)
• Duration of trip
• Whether you want trip cancellation coverage
• Date of booking
• If you have any trip payments left to make
• One country you're traveling to
• Country of residence/citizenship

After inputting some personal information, such as your age and state of residence, along with your trip details, like travel dates, destination, and trip costs, you'll get an instant quote for the plans available for your trip. And from there, it's easy to compare each option based on your coverage needs and budget.

Now let's look at a few examples to estimate Tin Leg Travel Insurance's coverage costs.

As of April 2024, a 23-year-old from Illinois taking a week-long, $3,000 budget trip to Italy would have the following  Tin Leg Travel Insurance travel insurance quotes:

Premiums for Tin Leg Travel Insurance plans are between 1.8% and 3.9% of the trip's cost, well below the average cost of travel insurance . It's also relatively cheap compared to many of its competitors

Tin Leg Travel Insurance provides the following quotes for a 30-year-old traveler from California heading to Japan for two weeks on a $4,000 trip:

Once again, premiums for Tin Leg Travel Insurance plans are between 3.4% and 5.2%, below the average cost for travel insurance.

A 65-year-old couple looking to escape New Jersey for Mexico for two weeks with a trip cost of $6,000 would have the following Tin Leg Travel Insurance quotes:

Premiums for Tin Leg Travel Insurance plans are between 6.9% and 9.4%, which is roughly in line with the average cost for travel insurance. This is to be expected, as travel insurance is often more expensive for older travelers.

How to File a Claim with Tin Leg Travel Insurance

One exceptionally nice aspect of Tin Leg Travel Insurance is that you can report a claim online or over the phone. You can contact Tin Leg Travel Insurance's claims department at 844-240-1233 or by email at [email protected] . It's available on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. ET.

You'll be asked to fill out a claims form that asks about your trip details and the issue you faced. Tin Leg Travel Insurance will then ask you to file supporting documents related to your claim. If you're filing a claim because you canceled a flight due to an illness, they'll likely require medical documentation that supports this claim. 

Tin Leg Customer Service and Support Experience

Tin Leg Travel Insurance is well reviewed, receiving an average of 4.6 stars out of five on SquareMouth across nearly 3,800 reviews. Reviews on its Better Business Bureau are consistent with its SquareMouth score, also averaging 4.6 stars across over 110 reviews, admittedly a limited sample size. Additionally, Tin Leg Travel Insurance is not certified with the BBB.

While most customers reported a smooth and speedy claims service, some noted that communication from Tin Leg Travel Insurance during the process can be spotty. Additionally, customers complained about their claims being denied due to requirements they were unaware of when purchasing coverage. One customer wrote about how they had to cancel a trip because of work, but hadn't been working at their company long enough to qualify for trip cancellation coverage.

See how Tin Leg Travel Insurance travel insurance stacks up against the competition. 

Tin Leg Travel Insurance vs. AIG Travel Guard

To compare Tin Leg Travel Insurance travel insurance to Travel Guard , we'll consider the coverage limits from their highest-rated, Gold and Travel Guard Deluxe plans, respectively.

With AIG Travel Guard's Deluxe plan, you'll get:

• Trip cancellation coverage up to $150,000
• Trip interruption coverage up to $225,000
• Emergency medical coverage of $100,000
• Coverage for baggage loss, theft, or damage up to $2,500
• Travel delay coverage of up to $1,000

Comparing those coverages with Tin Leg Travel Insurance's Gold plan, you'll see that AIG's coverages are better than Tin Leg Travel Insurance's in all areas except one – emergency medical. While AIG offers emergency medical coverage of $100,000, Tin Leg Travel Insurance's coverage limit is $500,000 (in primary coverage).

If the medical coverage piece is what's most important to you, Tin Leg Travel Insurance would be the right choice in this scenario. That said, having $100,000 in emergency medical coverage is nothing to scoff at, so it may come down to comparing premium costs.

Remember that the premium costs will depend on the traveler's age, trip destination, and trip cost. So you'll need to compare these two insurers using your trip-specific information to get a solid idea of the costs associated with each plan.

Read our AIG Travel Guard insurance review here.

Tin Leg Travel Insurance vs. Allianz Travel Insurance

Both Allianz Travel Insurance and Tin Leg Travel Insurance travel insurance offer a variety of travel insurance plans designed for different types of travelers with varying types and degrees of coverage.

In this comparison, we'll look at Allianz Travel Insurance's most popular single-trip plan, the OneTrip Prime plan, compared to Tin Leg Travel Insurance's Basic plan.

With Allianz Travel Insurance's most popular single-trip OneTrip Prime plan, you'll get:

• Up to $100,000 in trip cancellation coverage
• Up to $150,000 in trip interruption coverage
• $50,000 in emergency medical coverage
• Up to $1,000 in coverage for baggage loss, theft, or damage
• Up to $800 in travel delay coverage

In looking at Tin Leg Travel Insurance's basic plan, you'll find that these two policies offer the same $50,000 coverage limit for emergency medical. Still, Allianz Travel Insurance's plan exceeds Tin Leg Travel Insurance's in the other coverage limits. That said, you'll have to quote both of these policies using your personal trip information to make an informed decision, especially if cost is the most important factor to you.

Read our  Allianz travel insurance review here.

Tin Leg Travel Insurance vs. Credit Card Travel Insurance

Do you have a travel credit card? If so, consider the type of insurance coverage it may (or may not) offer. Some basic coverages, like primary rental car insurance, are provided through your credit card's travel protection . And if you don't need medical coverage or don't have a lot of non-refundable trip expenses, the coverage offered by your credit card could suffice.

That said, don't forget that credit card coverage is sometimes considered secondary coverage. That means you'll have to file a claim with any other applicable insurer before filing a claim with your credit card company.

Read our guide on the best credit cards with travel insurance here.

Tin Leg Travel Insurance FAQs

All policies except Economy cover pre-existing medical conditions as long as you purchase your policy within 15 days of trip deposit.

You have 14 days after you purchase your policy to refund your Tin Leg Travel Insurance policy, as long as you haven't left for your trip. 

All Tin Leg Travel Insurance travel insurance policies include 24/7 emergency assistance services.

Tin Leg Travel Insurance claims can be submitted online or over the phone at 844-240-1233 during business hours. You'll need to provide details about your trip and the problem that arose during your trip. The claims process is quick, according to customer reviews, but be sure to review your policy for guideline related to claims. 

Yes, all tiers of Tin Leg Travel Insurance travel insurance offer cancellation coverage if you or a non-traveling loved one contracts COVID-19, though you will need to provide a positive test to receive reimbursement. 

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Tin Leg

To review Tin Leg Travel Insurance travel insurance, we looked at several different factors. These included premium costs, coverage categories, and claim limits. In addition, we compared the policies and premiums available through Tin Leg Travel Insurance to those from the best travel insurance providers to see how they stack up — and also considered any additional add-on coverages available and the ease of getting a quote and filing a claim.

In the end, the best policy for you will be the one that provides the coverage you need and limits you're comfortable with while also staying within budget.

Read more about how Business Insider rates insurance products here.

Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed in this article are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards .

Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.

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